Why the Plus ?

Highlighting my values and the meaning of Psychotherapy Plus

Part 1

The Plus represents certain values that I believe make my style of Psychotherapy unique and highly effective not only for present psychological difficulties but also for long-term personal benefits!

Counselling and Psychotherapy are defined as “ umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies. They are delivered by trained practitioners who work with people over a short or long term to help them bring about effective change and/or enhance their wellbeing.” (BACP, 2017).

Counselling is usually of shorter duration and focuses on a very specific issue, such as low mood.

Psychotherapy can be both short and long term and focuses on specific issues too, but can also help you to understand how and why problems have developed in the context of your life and help you deepen your understanding of yourself.

In reality there is a very large overlap between the two.

CBT is a specific type of talking therapy based on the idea that our thoughts, feelings, behaviours and bodily responses are all interconnected and shape how we perceive the world. CBT is a pragmatic approach and the length of CBT is usually between 5–20 sessions (BABCP, 2021).

Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytic Counselling/Psychotherapy evolved from Freud’s, Jung’s and Adler’s ideas around the conscious and unconscious. In Psychodynamic counselling a client’s past will be explored to inform the reason for current conflicts in their lives (BPC, 2021; Gabbard, 2017).

“Whereas the CBT patient described herself with pragmatic and concrete aims and her therapist as an expert knowing how to achieve them, the PDT regarded the therapist as one who offered a secure space for the patient where they would cooperate to explore the patient’s person and way of living in order to find alternative ways to be, a more positive self-regard, and a coherent personal history.” (Nilsson et al. 2007, page 561)

Integrative Psychotherapy recognises that every approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Integrative psychotherapy informs its understanding of clients’ difficulties and its working by drawing from different therapeutic approaches such as CBT, psychodynamic counselling/psychotherapy, behaviourist approaches, person-centred psychotherapy and more. Integrative Psychotherapy is a tailor made approach that is ideally suited to the individual’s needs and circumstances, because it considers the person as a whole. Integrative Psychotherapy is more inclusive of the client than other approaches. There is a focus on a positive therapeutic working alliance as well as the most effective evidence-based way to alleviate current symptoms. In order to prevent relapse or “revolving-door patients” and to foster personal development there is an additional focus on personality development, individual strengths and goals (Zarbo et al. 2016; UKCP, 2021).

“Integrative psychotherapy is flexible to patients’ needs and sensitive to therapeutic alliance.” (Zarbo et al. 2016).

“Psychotherapy integration is central to child treatment, although at times it is not clearly identified or developed both in the research literature and in practice.” (Krueger, Glass; 2013).

My University Studies of Psychology and Mental Health, my Psychotherapy Training covered these theoretical and clinical perspectives and mental health sector work and lived experience strengthened my belief in the integrative psychotherapeutic approach. I describe myself as an Integrative Psychotherapist and I practice in this way, because I believe in it wholeheartedly. I use evidence-based practical techniques from CBT and Behavioural Therapy, I draw from Humanistic and Person-centred Counselling for building and maintaining a therapeutic alliance, I use the above perspectives plus DBT-Principles of Validation in my communication, I consider development, relationships, interactions and communication from psychodynamic and systemic viewpoints and at the end of it all there is a well-informed integrative approach. I consider myself lucky, I am proud and grateful to be able to work in this way. I am committed to continued professional development of this integrative style of Therapy.

This Integrative Approach is the main reason I decided to call my practice Psychotherapy Plus.

Lukas Dressler
Psychotherapy.Plus
Psychologist (MSc.)
Integrative Psychotherapist
for Children and Young People

Further reading:

http://www.thecounsellorsguide.co.uk/difference-between-counselling-psychotherapy.html

https://welldoing.org/article/whats-difference-between-counselling-and-psychotherapy

https://www.verywellmind.com/counselor-or-psychotherapist-1067401

References:

BABCP — https://babcp.com/What-is-CBT Accessed 29.01.2021.

BACP — https://www.bacp.co.uk/media/6811/bacp-choosing-counsellor-psychotherapist-c3.pdf Accessed 29.01.2021.

BPC — https://www.bpc.org.uk/information-support/what-is-therapy/ Accessed 29.01.2021.

Gabbard, G. O. (2017). Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy: A basic text. American Psychiatric Pub.

Krueger, S. J., & Glass, C. R. (2013). Integrative psychotherapy for children and adolescents: A practice-oriented literature review. Journal of psychotherapy integration, 23(4), 331.

UKCP — https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/about-ukcp/how-we-are-structured/ukcp-colleges/humanistic-and-integrative-psychotherapy-college/ Accessed 29.02.2021.

Zarbo, C., Tasca, G. A., Cattafi, F., & Compare, A. (2016). Integrative psychotherapy works. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 2021.